Jackie Burkhardt
SCI 241
10/15/2010
Sherrie H. Lu
The digestive process starts with saliva. Saliva begins with the scent or sight of food. Food enters the digestive system starting at the mouth. Food is broken into smaller pieces by your teeth. The broken up pieces of food mix with saliva and break down into a substance called bolus, which is a ball of chewed food. Bolus then passes through the pharynx, which helps us swallow, into the esophagus and into the stomach. The stomach further breaks down the bolus with highly acidic stomach secretion and is turned into a semi liquid mass called chyme. This process could take 2 to 6 hours depending on the amount of food and type of food. The chyme then moves to the small intestine. The small intestine is 20 feet long and takes 3 to 5 hours for chyme to move through the small intestine. This is where most of the nutrients are absorbed. While moving through the small intestine additional secretions are produced from the liver, gallbladder and pancreas to assist in the digestive process. The chyme that is not absorbed is then deposited into the large intestine through a sphincter. The sphincter prevents any substances from reentering the small intestine. The large intestine is 5 feet long and the break down process can take 24 hours. The large intestine is the last chance to absorb any leftover nutrients. As chyme travels through the colon some left over water, vitamins and minerals are absorbed. Any substances left are moved to the rectum and stored until it moves to the anus for elimination.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
The beginning of the digestive process starts with the smell and sight of food which activate the salivary glands. The mouth is the point at which food enters the digestive tract and continues the digestive process by chewing food. The food is then broken down into pieces and moistened by salivary glands which turn food into a bolus. The bolus goes down the pharynx into the esophagus which connects the pharynx to the stomach. The stomach is an organ that mixes food and secretes gastric juice. The bolus, once in the stomach, is mixed into a semiliquid mass called chime. The stomach is close together with the liver and pancreas but does not get assistance from these organs. The chime then enters…
- 251 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
When we vomit, the acidic nature of our stomach contents becomes immediately apparent both from the taste and from the burning sensation in our throats. The purpose of this acidity is to kill any bacteria we swallow with our food. In the stomach, digestive enzymes and a muscular churning action combine to reduce our food to a thick liquid called chyme. Chyme exits the stomach through a second sphincter and enters the small intestine. Typically, it takes the stomach about 4 hours to process a meal. The small intestine is about 20 feet long. In the duodenum, the first foot of the small intestine, digestion continues with the breakdown of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids. Some of the digestive enzymes at work in the duodenum are made by the small intestine itself. Others are made by the pancreas. Pancreatic enzymes play an important role in neutralizing food, which arrives from the stomach in a highly acidic condition. In addition, the small intestine receives bile, a substance that is produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder. Bile is an emulsifier?it breaks fats into tiny droplets that are more easily attacked by enzymes. Beyond the duodenum, the rest of the small intestine functions primarily in absorbing nutrients into the body. In order to be able to do this efficiently?that is, rapidly?the small intestine has a huge surface area. It is covered with numerous fingerlike projections called villi, each of which is in turn covered with tiny little projections called microvilli. Flattened, the small intestine would fill the area of a tennis court! Digested nutrients are absorbed across the surface of the small intestine into capillaries found inside each villus.…
- 4740 Words
- 19 Pages
Better Essays -
When a human sees or smells food the salivary glands are the first thing to react in the digestive system. Once the food is placed into the mouth, it is then taken over by the teeth, tongue, and saliva. These three are what help make the food moist and small enough to be swallowed. At this point the food then becomes what is called bolus. The bolus is then traveled through the pharynx then esophagus, and into the stomach. When the food travels through the pharynx, the epiglottis makes sure that the food paces by the without interring the lungs. Once the bolus enters the stomach, it is then broken down even further by the acids within the stomach. The bolus becomes a little more digested before leaving the stomach. Once the food is at this stage, it is then called Chyme. Chyme is a semiliquid food. It normally leaves the stomach within two to six hours. The small intestine is what does most of the digesting and takes the nutrients from the food. It has help from the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder. The small intestine is made up of three parts, these parts are called, the jejunum, the ileum, and the duodenum. Anything that is not taken for nutrients in the small intestine goes to the large intestine. At this time it travels through what is called the sphincter. The sphincter prevents any of the food to go back into the small…
- 483 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Laboratory Report/ Hope Schallert/ Effect of Dietary Fiber on Transit Time and Bile/ Dr. Weithop / 03.08.2015/ Page [1] of [4]…
- 1563 Words
- 15 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
The gastrointestinal tract starts with the mouth, which leads to the gullet via the stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and ends at the anus. In due course of the journey, the ingested food is broken down by both physical and chemical means to release nutrients which are absorbed into the blood stream. The ingested food is physically broken down in the mouth by chewing so as to reduce its size for increased surface area over which enzymatic reaction will take place. Enzymatic reaction is known as digestion and this is defined as the chemical breakdown of the ingested complex food molecules by the action of biological enzymes, into simplest form that can be absorbed into the blood stream and assimilated into living cells. In human beings, various components of the ingested food are digested and absorbed at various sections of the alimentary canal .…
- 1938 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
Digestion first begins with the mouth. When you put food into your mouth your teeth and saliva helps to break down food into small molecules that absorbs into your bloodstream, your tongue finishes this process off by pushing the food into your throat in order for you to swallow. Food then goes through the esophagus and the esophagus muscles pushes the food into the stomach. While in the stomach digestive juices such as enzymes and acids assists in breaking down the food into paste. The food and digestive juices mixes and remains in the stomach for at least two hours. After departing the stomach food then goes through the small intestine. This is the most important part of digestion. The food paste travels through the small intestine and nutrients such as carbohydrates, minerals, proteins, fats, and vitamins are absorbed by villi and then goes through the bloodstream. The food which is undigested then goes through the large intestine as paste. Water is taken from the paste and it then becomes solid waste. The solid waste gathers inside the rectum which is at the end of the large intestine. Lastly, the waste goes through the anus (Hillendale Health, 2013).…
- 689 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Digestion is a chemical process whereby food substances are broken down into soluble unit and absorbed in the blood stream by a process known as assimilation. The digestive system is made of different tract as seen in figure 1.2. All these parts help in the digestion of food.…
- 1855 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays -
The digestive system takes in food from your environment and then breaks it down to smaller molecules. Through the process of digestion, your body breaks large nutrient molecules into even smaller molecules; these smaller molecules enter the intestine and are then absorbed…
- 1012 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
The digestive system works like an assembly line in reverse. Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are progressively broken down into smaller molecules that can be used by the body. This system extracts needed nutrients and gets rid of any unnecessary wastes. Structurally, the digestive system consists of the long tube, the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that serves as the direct pathway for what you eat and excrete. Along the way, various accessory organs help with the mechanical breakdown and the chemical digestion of food. Mechanical digestion involves physically mashing or tearing the bites of food we put in our mouths. We normally think of mechanical digestion occurring in the mouth, but there are other features of your GI tract that also help mash up your food. As what you consume is being smashed, chemical digestion also begins. Enzymes break fats, carbohydrates and proteins into their building blocks so they can be used by the body. Once these molecules are broken down, they can become the raw material for the production of the body’s energy currency, adenosine triphosphate (ATP).…
- 1178 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Then, the body absorbs the smaller molecules through the walls of the small intestine into the bloodstream The bloodstream then delivers the small molecules to the rest of the body. After this, the food continues into the large intestine, and out your body. What happens during the chemical digestion in the mouth, stomach, and small intestine? The process of digestion begins in the mouth when the food is chewed, being broken down into simpler nutrients, and is mixed with saliva.…
- 678 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Once I have taken a bite out of my delicious favorite meal, the digestive system gets to work. It all begins in the mouth, chewing the food small enough to swallow. Salvia is squirted into the food to moisten and soften the food. Salvia contains enzymes, which break down the starches in food. Once the tongue forms the food into a ball to be swallowed, it is sent down the pharynx. The pharynx contains sphincters that help keep your food down once you swallow. Next, it makes its way to the esophagus, which is simply a transportation tube from the mouth to the stomach. It then reaches the stomach, which uses chemicals to make the food particles tinier. These chemicals are called gastric juices and include hydrochloric acid and enzymes. Once the stomach mixes with the chemicals, it is formed into a cream-like liquid called chyme. The gallbladder takes over from here hitting the food with more chemicals, one of them called bile. Bile is mixed with our food breaking down the fat into droplets, which will supply us with energy later on. From there, the pancreas uses digestive juice to break down…
- 471 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
The job of the digestive system is to break down food into substances to provide the body with vitamins, energy and minerals. The digestive system is approximately 20 to 30 feet and acts in stages to be able to digest the food we eat.…
- 717 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The process of digestion has many stages with the first starting in the oral cavity. Within the system, food passes through a tube called the alimentary canal, more commonly known as the gastrointestinal tract. The tract is made up of the oral cavity, pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, small intestines, and large intestines. To provide energy and nutrients to the body, major functions take place in the digestive system which include; ingestion, secretion, mixing and movement, digestion, absorption and excretion.…
- 552 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
every part of the gastrointestinal tract is designed to help in the digestive process in a specific way. The mouth is involved in chewing also know as masticating. The purpose is to break down food into small enough pieces to pass through the esophagus and enter the stomach. The food is moistened with saliva helping turning it into bolus in order to turn initiate the digestion of food. The esophagus is a tube like muscle which use contractions to pass food from the mouth into the stomach it does not help with the digestive or absorptive function. The stomach acts like a sort of storage depot for food, but also acts as a place in which mechanical and chemical breakdown of food happens. The small intestine absorbs water, electrolytes, proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Whereas the large intestine is where the food matter and water that can’t be absorbed is the formed into stools. The rectum is a temporary storage area for feces before passed.…
- 513 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Digestion begins in the mouth. A brain reflex triggers the flow of saliva when we see or even think of food. Saliva moistens the food while the teeth chew it up and make it easier to swallow. Amylase, which is the digestive enzyme, found in saliva, starts to break down starch into simpler sugars before the food even leave the mouth. The nervous pathway involved in salivary excretion requires stimulation of receptors in the mouth, sensory impulses to the brain stem and parasympathetic impulses to salivary glands. Swallowing his food happens when the muscles in his tongue and mouth move the food into his pharynx. The pharynx, which is the passage way for food and air, a small flap of skin called the epiglottis closes over the pharynx to prevent food from entering the trachea and causing choking. For swallowing to happen correctly a combination of 25 muscles must all work together at the same time. After being chewed and swallowed the food enters the esophagus or gullet is the muscular tube in vertebrates through which ingested food passes from the throat to the stomach. It connects the pharynx, which is the body cavity that is common to both the digestive and respiratory systems behind the mouth, with the stomach, where the second stage of digestion is initiated. The esophagus is a long tube that runs from the mouth to the stomach. It uses rhythmic wave like muscle movements called peristalsis to force food from the throat into the…
- 1364 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays